Freddie Mac [1] released a join bulletin with Fannie Mae [2] Wednesday that updates its guidelines for standard servicing policies, which are unrelated to its special initiatives to aid those effected by the hurricanes that have ravaged the continental United States.
In order to provide a better borrower experience for consumers, and under the direction of the Federal Housing Finance Agency [3], the GSEs have made amendments to requirements to complete Borrower Response Packages, including hardship, income, and other documentation involved with Guide Form 710: Uniform Borrower Assistance Form to Mortgage Assistance Application. According to the bulletin, these changes will reduce supporting documentation required for the form and, “provide a more flexible, streamlined application process for Borrowers and evaluation process for Servicers.”
Freddie Mac will be making changes to the following categories of the form: borrower information, hardship information, property information, and borrower income and required income documentation. The form will no longer require information regarding to monthly household expenses.
The GSE will also be making changes to the information required for self-employed individuals, income calculations for calculating gross income. Servicers will also be required to include non-borrower household income. These changes will be effective starting June 1, 2018.
In order to help maintain the preservation and maintenance of REO and abandoned properties, the GSEs have also increased the reimbursement limits for servicers, which will go into effect October 9 this year. Maintenance covered includes: yard maintenance, property cleaning and waste removal, and other miscellaneous expenses, such as mold treatment, fence repair, extermination and HVAC repair.
Freddie Mac will also allow up to $2,000 in reimbursement for expenses related to clear-boarding windows. This stipulation will go into effect on September 25, 2017.
To view the bulletin in its entirety, along with related expense codes, click here [4].